A Charming Reunion
by mamaXunicorn
Summary: Takes place directly after the end of the finale. A short little one-shot reuniting Emma with her family.


_**A/N: Who else is dead because of that finale? I cannot wait until the fall to see season 2 and especially not to see the Charming family reunion. So here's my take on it and I hope you enjoy!**_

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The purple fog around them began to dissipate and as it slowly melted away, Snow felt the pressure being lifted off of her. And then to her immense relief she could still feel the warmth of her husband's tight embrace. She didn't know what that cloud was but she feared that it might have taken her away from him again and she couldn't deal with that, not just after she had finally found him.

She opened her eyes to watch the last of the mysterious purple cloud evaporate and then a silent chill fell over the town.

Slowly, Snow lifted her head and found herself gazing into the warm blue eyes of her husband. She let out another sigh of relief and tightened her arms around him, clutching onto him for all she was worth. "Charming." She whispered desperately.

"I'm here, love." He whispered against her hair, dropping a gentle kiss there and drawing her in tighter.

She held onto him for a good, few, long seconds just in silence. She watched as people walked around, people she both recognized and people she did not but all people from home and all people who were just as confused as she was.

"What was that?" Snow asked, pulling away from him moments later, but still holding onto him.

"I have no idea." He muttered. "Maybe...maybe it was part of the curse breaking?"

Snow furrowed her brow and shook her head. "That was no good magic..." She bit down on her lips softly. Then her eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips and she gripped onto his arm tightly.

"What?" He asked in alarm, his hand sliding around her waist. "What is it, Snow?"

"The hospital." She whispered breathlessly, glancing up at him with wide eyes and he furrowed his brow.

"The hospital?"

"We have to go!" She tugged on his hand and took off in a run in the direction of the hospital.

"Snow, wait!" He called, gripping onto her hand in order to not lose her. Despite his calling she continued to run and didn't stop until she reached the outside of Storybrooke hospital.

People were piling out, doctors and nurses and patients filled the streets, all looking around to see what had happened.

Snow halted, with James at her side, both panting. Snow narrowed her eyes, flickering her gaze among the crowd and James turned his gaze on her, wondering what or who his wife was looking for.

"Snow? What's going on?"

She ignored him for the time being, her sole concentration on looking for the two people she hoped she would see. And then her breath caught as she finally laid eyes upon them, leaving the hospital entrance hand-in-hand, looking around just as curious as everyone else.

Henry clutched onto his mother's hand for dear life as they exited the hospital. The last few hours for him had been a complete whirlwind and a little bit too much for him to handle and he didn't know what to expect anymore. Ever since he'd found the book he dedicated every second of his time to finding a way to break the curse and now it was broken but he saw the purple cloud just like everyone else, he was smart enough to know that what it was wasn't good and just because it didn't seem to have any immediate effects on Storybrooke didn't mean there wasn't still something coming.

"It still looks the same." Emma voiced his thoughts as she glanced around.

Henry swallowed and gripped onto her tighter, leaning into her side. "Something's coming."

Emma glanced down at him, her eyes still red and her cheeks still stained with the tears she'd shed from nearly losing the son she'd just come to know. After all that had happened, after nearly losing him, after all she'd seen, how could there be any doubt in her mind that what Henry spoke was the truth?

"But what?" Emma wondered, looking back off to the horizon where they had seen the smoke originate from.

"I don't know." Henry whispered, his voice shaking.

"Hey," Emma looked back down at him and released his hand only to run her fingers through his hair, "Whatever it is, we can conquer it, right? We made it this far."

Henry smiled tightly and then threw his arms around his mother's leg. "Me and you."

"Operation Cobra."

Henry looked up at her through his bangs and she smiled at him and he grinned and snuggled further against her.

As he held onto her, he began to look around, at all the people, people he had been right about all along, now remembering who they were and finding each other.

It was then that he saw them, standing not too far away, holding each other's hand and staring back at them. He released Emma with a soft gasp, drawing his mother's attention in to him. "Henry?"

A beaming smile broke across Henry's face as he reached for Emma's hand and tugged it gently and then lifted his free hand and pointed in their direction. "It's them!"

Emma furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes, squinting to see into the distance and through the crowd of people. It wasn't long before she took in the familiar faces standing just several yards away.

"Mary and David." She acknowledged and Henry whipped his head up to her, his eyes wide and bright, biting down on his lip to suppress a smile.

Her eyes widened for a second and her jaw tightened as she realized..."Snow White and Prince Charming..."

Henry's smile grew wider and he gripped tighter onto her hand as he waited for the inevitable words to leave her lips. "Mom and Dad..."

A grin split Henry's face and he squeezed Emma's hand once more before releasing it and taking off in a run straight towards them.

Snow watched as Henry released Emma and came running towards them as fast as his little feet could carry him. Faintly they heard Emma's call for him in the distance but as he neared, Snow could only the picture the little boy as she last saw him, unconscious and dying, and was so incredibly grateful to see him so bright and _alive. _

Before she knew it she was on the ground, kneeling, her arms spread wide, waiting for Henry to dive right into them. And that's exactly what he did. The weight of the ten year old almost sent her flying backwards but she managed to catch her balance before she fell and tightened her arms around him. Henry's arms were wound tightly around her neck, his head buried in the crook of her neck. "Oh Henry..." She whispered against his hair, her hands sliding up his back to hold his little warm body to her. She only pulled back when she felt wetness on her skin and she held Henry back at arm's length, holding onto his shoulders lightly. Henry stared back at her, a few salty tears rolling down his cheeks and a bright grin on his face. She smiled back at him, using her thumb to brush away the tears from his eyes.

Henry then caught sight of the man standing beside them, watching them in curious wonder and his grin brightened and he rushed out of Snow's arms and wrapped his arms around his grandfather.

James seemed a little taken aback but quickly returned the gesture, slipping his arms around the boy and casting a questioning look at his wife. She smiled at him knowingly, love and warmth radiating in her eyes and his eyes widened silently and she nodded.

Sudden, rushed footsteps suddenly caught their attention and their gazes were pulled to the blonde rushing towards them. Snow stifled a gasp as she neared, recognizing her from the countless days they'd spent together as roommates, and knowing all at once that was her little baby girl. Emma slowly came to a stop several feet away from them, her eyes shifting between Snow and James and Henry. Then she met Snow's gaze and her body completely froze, she even forgot how to breath for a second.

Slowly, Snow rose to her feet and took a few steps toward the statue-like Emma, her eyes welling with tears. She froze just a mere foot away from her, slowly reaching out her hand towards her and then gasping and bringing her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob.

Emma let out the breath she'd been holding, watching the woman she had called her best friend come to the realization she had just come to minutes ago. Emma's eyes softened and her jaw quivered as the gravity of the situation finally began to sink in.

"Emma." Snow whispered and her tone was one Emma had only heard once before and it was her own voice, saying Henry's name just minutes ago when he came back to life. A mother's love and desperation and relief.

Emma's eyes stung with tears and before either of them could dare to think another word they were rushing towards each other, closing the minimal gap between them with a tight hug.

Emma clung to her with a desperate need she didn't even know she possessed. For years she wondered what it would be like to be held by her mother, to know the love that could only come from a mother and though she thought about finding her mother one day she didn't expect it to be anything like this, or feel anything like this. Hugging her mother, Snow White, was nothing short of _magic. _

Snow clutched onto the woman in her arms with all her might as the last several months came rushing back to her memory. Every single moment she'd spent with her daughter and not known it, every hug, every tender moment, even the moments where she scolded her, they call came to her in a solid rush and tears started to helplessly roll down her cheeks.

From the moment her husband swept the newborn out of her arms she knew she wanted nothing more than that moment twenty eight years in the future, the moment Rumplestiltskin predicted her baby would save them. That moment was finally here and Snow felt the emotions building up in her until she could contain them no longer and they escaped her lips in tearful sobs.

It was the sound of not only her best friend's but now her mother's unending sobs that created a dreadful feeling in the pit of Emma's stomach. Her hold grew tighter around her for a few seconds and then she pulled back just to see if she was alright. Fat tears streamed helplessly down her now red cheeks, her green eyes sparkled even brighter in the moisture of her eyes but her smile was wide and a string of sobs continued to escape her lips.

Snow lifted her hands to gently cradle Emma's face and her eyes scanned every inch of her face, the color of her eyes, the shape of her nose, eyes, mouth, chin, even the smile that was on her lips, she saw some of herself in there and she saw some of her husband. Emma was a beautiful mixture of both, taking each of their strongest features and bringing them together to create, in Snow's eyes, the perfect being. A strangled sort of whimper bubbled out of Snow's throat and Emma's brow furrowed in concern. Snow shook her head softly, gently caressing her thumbs across Emma's cheeks. "You're so beautiful." She whispered past another sob. "My baby...you're beautiful." Snow dropped her hands to pull Emma in again and Emma fought back a small sob of her own.

Over her mother's shoulder Emma caught sight of her other parent, standing there, still holding to Henry, his bright blue eyes shining and a longing on his face but willing to let mother and daughter have their own moment. At first glance, she still saw David, because all she had ever known him as was David Nolan but the more she stared at him the more she realized he wasn't David. He held himself like a prince would, or how she assumed a prince would, confident and poised despite his obvious emotional state. There was something in the man before her that David Nolan didn't have and it only took a second more for her to understand.

All she ever heard about Snow White and Prince Charming was their undying and true love, they travelled far and faced all sorts of danger and adversities just to find each other again. And David even possessed that love for Mary Margaret even though he had difficulty showing it in the rightful ways. But it wasn't David standing there looking at Mary, and it wasn't Prince Charming standing there looking at Snow White, it was a father looking at his daughter. The one thing that David lacked was the knowledge of being a father. It was prince Charming, beaming with parental pride and love, staring at the daughter he gave his life to save.

Emma gave Snow one last tight squeeze and then almost reluctantly released her. Snow seemed a little dejected and confused as her daughter left her arms but as Emma cast a warm smile at her and then moved past her heading in the direction of her husband, her smile returned.

Henry immediately released his grandfather at the sight of Emma approaching them, grinning broadly waiting for the grand reunion between father and daughter.

James took a few slow steps forward as Emma came near and both paused with a short distance between them. They met each other's eyes and remained in pure silence, drinking in each other's presence and then slowly James lifted his hand to brush a strand of Emma's golden hair away from her face, tucking it softly behind her ear. He swallowed tightly before finally speaking, his voice thick mirroring the tears in his eyes. "Your mother is right." The back of his knuckles trailed ever so lightly across her cheek and sent shivers down her spine before he cupped her face gently. "You are beautiful." He brought his other hand to rest lightly over her shoulder, pulling himself toward her and pressing a tender kiss to her forehead, closing his eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Emma let out a shuddering breath at the feel of his kiss and his warm hands on her skin. As a kid she had seen countless fathers with their daughters and envied the way the little girls could crawl into their father's lap and be held by his strong and protective arms and she wondered what being held by her own father would feel like. She wasn't a little girl anymore who could sit on her father's lap but she could still know what it feels like to be held by him, to feel his strong arms around her, holding her and protecting her as if she were.

As soon as she felt his lips leave her forehead she took a step in and wound her arms around him tightly. It took less than a second for him to respond and wrap his arms around her, crushing her against his chest. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the scent that she thought every daughter should know by heart and somehow, even though she knew it had to be impossible, it was a scent she recognized as if she'd been there before, cradled against his chest.

The second Emma wrapped her arms around him, the breath completely left his chest. He almost couldn't believe it was real, just minutes ago he was reunited with his wife and now he was holding his daughter, the sweet baby who he placed in the wardrobe, the one who held his last thoughts before he thought he was going to die.

His hand slid up her back to cradle the back of her head gently just as he had when he took her from Snow's arms. She was no longer that baby, she was a fully grown woman but to him, that didn't matter. She was his daughter and whether she was an hour old or twenty years old, the love he felt for her would always be there.

James' eyes fluttered open and saw his wife standing several feet away now with Henry beside her. When she caught his gaze, her smile widened until it reached her eyes and his heart stuttered, finding it hard to remember the last time he saw Snow that purely happy. The threat of the curse loomed over her from the day of their wedding and no matter how hard he tried, especially after learning she was pregnant, he could not get the happy smile to return to her lips.

But it was all over now, he realized and his heart swelled. The prophecy was right, twenty years and their daughter would return to save them and break the curse. They were back together, he and Snow and Emma and they even got something more, little Henry.

Still holding onto Emma with the one hand behind her head, he released her with the other hand and extended it out towards Snow and Henry. Snow's eyes twinkled in love and delight and she squeezed Henry's shoulder before running over to her husband and daughter. Emma glanced up from her place on her father's chest just in time to see Snow running towards them. She ran right into his open arm and he closed his arm around the both of them, pushing the two women together. Emma and Snow met each other's eyes, smiled and Emma released her hold around her father to reach and grab her mother's hand. Snow felt her heart leap at the touch and squeezed her hand, maneuvering their hands between them to rest against her heart lightly.

For a brief few seconds, they felt complete, they felt whole. Emma was the missing piece to their puzzle that had been waiting to be completed for twenty eight years but then it felt as if something else was missing. That's when James spotted Henry, standing alone still in his hospital clothes, grinning at them with the biggest smile James had ever seen on anyone, not even aware, or if he was are, not caring that he was being left out.

"Henry!" He called out over the heads of his girls and Henry's eyes widened at the sound of his name. Emma and Snow both looked over their shoulders as best they could and smiled at the little boy. Henry briefly locked gazes with Snow, who gave him a little nod and then moved over to his mother whose smile widened and then she slightly wiggled her way out of her parent's embrace, holding out her hand towards him. "Come here, kid!"

Henry lit up like the sun and bounded toward them, crashing into his mother's body sending her stumbling into her father. Henry glanced up, smiling sheepishly and they all laughed, Emma ruffling his hair. He grinned and squeezed his way between his mother and grandmother and once again James wrapped them all up in a hug and felt a sense of warmness and pride swell in his chest.

This was his family. From the moment Rumplestiltskin found him at his mother's farm and brought him back to King George's castle, he knew his life would never be easy or normal. He never quite expected it to be this insane but he knew he wouldn't change it for the world. He had a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter and a wonderful grandson. And he knew, that no matter what lie ahead of them, and he was certain that it was danger, he would protect them with his life. Not Regina, not Rumplestiltskin, not King George or any person or any thing who ever lived could stop him from protecting his family.


End file.
